Workbenches have traditionally employed a vise for gripping workpieces. The vise is usually mounted at the left front side of the workbench. Various forms of vises have been disclosed for use by machinists, carpenters and other craftsmen. The machinist's vise is usually a heavy metal vise mounted on top of the workbench and consists of a fixed front jaw and a movable rear jaw, the latter actuated by means of a screw-threaded rod connected to a crank handle. The carpenter's vise, on the other hand, is usually mounted beneath the table top and includes a pair of vise jaws formed from hard wood. Like the machinist's vise, the carpenter's vise is actuated by a crank handle and a screw-threaded rod connected to the moving jaw, which is usually the front jaw. Because of the centrally-disposed screw-threaded rod, a "drop through" clamping of relatively-large workpieces is not possible; and thus the capacity of these vises is necessarily restricted. In summary, the vises currently available on the market for use with stationary workbenches are relatively heavy, cumbersome and expensive; nor is there any provision for clamping relatively large, tapered or odd-shaped workpieces.
In other prior art, of which I am aware, a portable workbench with an integral vise has been disclosed in a number of prior teachings, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,435 issued on May 15, 1979. In this '435 patent, a pair of independently-operable screw-threaded rods are connected to a movable (and articulatable) front vise jaw in such a manner that the front vise jaw is movable in a non-parallel relationship with respect to a rear vise jaw mounted on the table top. With this arrangement, odd-shaped or tapered objects may be clamped between the vise jaws. The jaws are mounted on top of a foldable and portable supporting structure, and are arranged transversely to a pair of supporting beams. While the rear vise jaw is fixed to the beams, its position relative thereto may be adjusted by a first indexing means having a predetermined number of selected positions. These positions are defined by a bolt or pin carried by the jaw and received within a selected one of a series of spaced openings formed in the supporting beams. This first indexing means thereby provides for a "coarse" adjustment between the vise jaws; and the screw-threaded rods provide for the "fine" adjustment, that is, the final clamping pressure exerted on a workpiece placed between the vise jaws. Moreover, the front movable jaw is pivotable with respect to the supporting frame, and its position relative to the frame is selected by a second indexing means. This second indexing means comprises a spring-loaded pin carried by the jaw, a knob mounted on the pin to facilitate convenient operation, and a plurality of openings in the frame to receive the pin in a desired angularly-adjusted position of the movable jaw relative to the frame.